Cooking basics book?

I'm going to leave out a lot of backstory and just say that I'm pretty ignorant about the basics of cooking, that is, techniques, equipment (i.e. building a primal kitchen), how to cook various foods, etc. I'm looking for something like Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything that starts from scratch but I'd like to avoid getting a massive tome that wastes 300+ pages on non-primal stuff. So, can anyone recommend a good cooking basics book along those lines?

The Joy of Cooking is an awesome primer. There are of course non primal things in there, but she covers everything, cooking every kind of meat, cuts of meat, how to make virtually everything and what equipment you'll need.

Yeah my mom taught me how to fry something on a pan 6 months ago and I feel like I'm outcooking her now I find that most recipes also state how you should cook the food, and if not then its probably because it's obvious. Sure I've also messed up a few meals, but practice makes perfect! Gl